February preview, late edition. I was too busy recovering from Apex to do this last week!

February is a so-so month for Melee on the calendar: it has produced 9 tourneys of 100+ entrants all-time, tied for 7th-best out of all months. The current February record is still held by Pound 5 at 243 entrants, and it doesn’t look like this year will threaten that mark.

Last month, Apex 2015 shattered the all-time Melee attendance record with 1037 entrants, although an asterisk will likely be placed on this record due to the unprecedented venue failure on the organizers part that caused an estimated 150-200 players to drop out by Saturday. Overall, January 2015 was the biggest month ever for Melee, producing five tourneys of 200+ entrants (SWEET Prologue, BEAST V, Paragon, NorCal Arcadian 2, Apex 2015).

February 14

Super South Bay Sunday takes place this weekend, a collaboration between the Smash communities at Santa Clara University and San Jose State University. The tourney also features Project M and Smash 4, appealing to the masses in the first installment of what promises to be a long-term series at a great new venue. The South Bay area continues to impress in the aftermath of a record-shattering 292-entrant turnout at the NorCal Arcadian 2 last month. Prediction: 110 entrants.

February 21

McSmashter 4 takes place this weekend. Canada finally broke through with its first 100+ entrant tourney last year at the third installment of this series. This one is bigger in scope and significance, with VGBootCamp coming to town and huge pre-registration numbers for Melee and PM across the board. Can the Toronto crew finish this tourney in the one day on the schedule allotted to Melee? Prediction: 240 entrants.

Great Revival also takes place this weekend. The MeleeMilwaukee crew made a breakthrough last fall by hosting Kings of the North 3, which brought in a cool 168 entrants and finished in just one day. Great Revival is the latest tourney to jump on the Melee + PM + Smash 4 hype train, although Melee is the focus as part of the booming Wisconsin Melee Circuit. If the TOs manage to finish this three-game, six-event tourney in one day yet again, hats off to them. Prediction: 130 entrants.

SWEET XVIII also takes place this weekend. Michigan Melee attendance is at an all-time high with an awesome three tourneys of 100+ entrants in the past six weeks, including two SWEET installments during that stretch. As the series moves to East Lansing per tradition in the interuniversity series, the west side of the state should be able to show up in full force, contending with competition such as Duck, Drephen, and KJH. Prediction: 130 entrants.

SHFFL Up and Deal! also takes place this weekend. Tournament organizer Ankoku has been a boon to the Las Vegas scene since moving there from Michigan a few years ago, helping revitalize the local scene. Las Vegas is an excellent meeting spot for the Smasher-rich areas of SoCal and Arizona, and this tourney has leveraged that quite well with heavy hitters Mew2King, Axe, and HugS projected to attend. It’s looking like a regional+ in the making. Prediction: 110 entrants.

February 28

Shots Fired! takes place this weekend in Pennsylvania, as MVG enters the fray with one of its first Smash regional events. With PM on the ropes after being dropped by VGBootCamp, Shots Fired! has collected an interesting lineup of pre-registrants: 180 PM, 100 Melee, and 100 Smash 4. Depending on cross-game overlap and scheduling, this tourney could be a statement-maker or could be another multi-game dud. We shall see. Prediction: 100 entrants.

Olympus takes place this weekend. South Carolina has never hosted a 100+ entrant tourney, but that could change here. 180+ are confirmed on its Facebook event; with PM and Smash 4 in the roster, the Melee entry numbers will depend on cross-game interest. History suggests about half the uniques enter Melee with that particular three-game lineup, although there is a lack of empirical data from this region. Prediction: 90 entrants.

Mayhem takes place this weekend. With many West Coast heads having saved up to travel to Apex last month, and SSS having gone on indefinite hiatus since mid-December, turnout should be plentiful for this installment. Will MacD and company step up to fill the soon-to-be TOing vacancy left by TheCrimsonBlur? Will they collaborate with Team OXY in the future on SoCal tourney projects? Time will tell. Prediction: 150 entrants.

See you next month.

MIOM | Juggleguy